He went onto explain, “Upwards, $200,000 worth of jewelry has been taken so far. The timing seems to be Fridays and Saturdays from dusk to midnight. The homes that have been burglarized have all been empty. The residents were away.”

RJ Meagher was away when his home was burglarized. “Our master bedroom was hit and our bathroom and all the drawers were pulled out.”

Meagher calls it lesson learned, and he’s not alone.

“I’ve bolstered my alarm system and am in the process of installing security cameras,” Meagher said.

Stewart added, “For us, we put in a new motion sensor light and we’re more careful to keep the doors locked.”

Police say also consider signing up for the department’s Nixle and Twitter alerts. If you do leave, make your home look occupied, set your alarm, put your lights on a timer and stop your mail.

“We have a house check program that’s available for the residents. If you’re going away, you can sign up either online or you can email the police department or call by phone if you have to,” Lt. Lieber said.

Police say they’ve stepped up patrols in the area and are working closely with police from neighboring agencies. In the meantime, police stress, alert neighbors are the best defense against burglars.

“Quite often, it’s somebody calling seeing something out of the ordinary that looks suspicious that ends up solving the case,” Lt. Lieber explained. “We want the people to be our eyes and ears, I can’t underestimate that fact.”